JULIE'S BLOG | IS MORGANITE THE RIGHT STONE...

Your Forever Ring should last Forever!

...FOR YOUR ENGAGEMENT RING?

The last thing you want to do is give your intended a Forever Ring which just won’t last Forever! Not all gemstones are suitable for a ring which she will wear every day for the rest of her life. Many gems are just too soft or fragile to stand up to daily wear.

I am often asked for a pink stone, and there are a lot of Morganite rings around, especially online. They look really lovely and many ladies add them to their wish-lists on Pinterest and elsewhere. On the plus side - Morganite is a very pretty pink, and looks especially lovely when set in rose gold. It is also relatively inexpensive so you can get quite a big Morganite rock on a limited budget.

BUT, is it a good stone to put in an engagement ring?

If you are going to give this to her as her special ring AND spend a substantial proportion of your hard earned money on it, you want it to last. So, just how good IS Morganite for her engagement ring? Let’s take a look.

Well, without getting too technical, Morganite is a clear pink ‘species’ of the gemstone Beryl. It is named after the collector (and US banker) JP Morgan and can be found in a range of places including Brazil and Madagascar.

You can get yellow and greenish Beryls too, but the most popular and well-known form of Beryl is the beautiful sea-blue Aquamarine. Morganite, like most gemstones, comes in a range of shades - from the palest pink through to a soft violet, the depth of colour depending on how much manganese is present.

The key thing for engagement rings is how the gemstone will last when you wear your ring every day for the rest of your life. Even diamonds, which are the hardest material can get chipped and damaged over a lifetime of wear, so you do need to bear this in mind.

Mohs’ scale of hardness

Gemstones are graded on a scale of hardness called Mohs’ scale after the 19thC German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. On that scale diamond is 10 and the next hardest gemstone, at 9, is Corundum which includes Sapphires and Rubies. After that, at 8 you have Topaz, then Quartz. The Beryls are similar to Emerald in that they lie somewhere between Quartz and Topaz. But what most people don’t realise is that Mohs’ scale is logarithmic, which means that it is not a linear progression from one point to another on the scale. In fact, diamonds are 4 times harder than Corundum, which is twice as hard as topaz. This means that Morganite and Aquamarine are more than 8 times ‘softer’ than diamond!

Lots of other gemstones used in rings are around the 7-7.5 mark on Mohs’ scale, including Amethyst, Garnet and Citrine, and some are even lower. But these are usually in dress rings which are worn only occasionally, and even then, they will become scratched and dull in time. Emeralds are popular for rings, and these will need repolishing at least once in their lifetime to retain their beautiful shine, but this is a worthwhile expense when it comes to Emerald as they are very valuable stones and tend to have a simpler cut, making it easier to repolish them. This is not really the case with most Morganites, unless they are very special stones, so you would have to accept that you would probably need to replace your lovely gemstone after a few years of constant wear.

If you are determined to choose Morganite though, do think very carefully about how you have it set. I have seen beautiful designs with large Morganites using just a four claw setting to keep it in place.

This may look gorgeous, but it is not going to keep your Morganite safe. A large stone needs a secure setting, so unless the claws are quite substantial, four is just not enough. But the most serious issue is mechanical damage to the edges of the stone. A four claw setting does not protect the edges at all, six, eight or even twelve claws are better, and a bezel will protect the edges completely.

OTHER THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Here are just a few of the things that a High Street jewellery shop or online retailer won't tell you when you are looking for that forever ring:

It is not in dispute that Morganites are a lovely shade of pink, but it is possible to find alternatives which will wear better. I have sourced some very pretty pale pink sapphires for clients who originally enquired about Morganite.

There are also pink diamonds. And, although the natural pinks from Australia do cost an arm and a leg there are now some very lovely and much more affordable cultured, laboratory-grown, pink diamonds available. The main thing to know here is that these are still real diamonds so they are not cheap!

A RIGHT HAND RING?

Another option is still to have your Morganite ring, but just not as an engagement ring. It is not a particularly expensive stone, so perhaps you could just treat yourself, or your beloved, to a ring for the right hand!

Whatever you choose, to wear this ring must be a joy. There’s no point in having a Forever Ring which you always have to fret about.

Getting the right advice is the key to success. Commissioning a bespoke ring may seem daunting at first, and it may take you out of your comfort zone, but with the right advice you can get it right – and she will love it that you did!

Getting the right advice is the key to success. Commissioning a bespoke ring may seem daunting at first, and it may take you out of your comfort zone, but with the right advice, you too can get it right – and she will love it that you did!

So, if you would like some help translating all your ideas into a ring she'll love, do Get in Touch to arrange a no-obligation chat.